This contract is for the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) plug and fight (P&F) A-kit design definition to develop an integrated set of components/platform end item preliminary engineering change proposals for the development of IAMD P&F A-kits that integrate the government furnished equipment IAMD B-kits.

Work is to be performed in Huntsville with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Alabama company awarded defense contract

Austal USA, of Mobile is being awarded a $204,652,897 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2217) for the exercise of construction options for ships four and five of the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) program.

The JHSV will provide high speed, shallow draft transportation capability to support the intra-theater maneuver of personnel, supplies and equipment for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Army.

Work will be performed in Mobile and is expected to be completed by December 2013.

Service members and veterans who were on "stop loss" from Sept. 11, 2001, to Sept. 20, 2009, are eligible for extra money. The problem is the Department of Defense is having a hard time finding them.

Stop loss refers to service members who were kept on active duty beyond their contract to the military, typically because of shortages or needs in certain career fields.

The defense department estimates that 145,000 service members and veterans nationwide are eligible for the benefit. More than $111 million has been paid to 25,000 troops and the Pentagon has about $423 million left in the program's fund, according to DoD figures.

Congress approved the $500 per-month-served special payment when it passed the end of service dates as part of the 2009 War Supplemental Appropriations Act.

But, the law only allows the department to accept applications for the benefit between October 2009 and this October. There are no authorizations in the law to make payments after the deadline.

The average payout is $3,000 to $4,000, according to DoD figures. Each of the services has been reaching out to its members but finding all those eligible for the retroactive pay is proving to be a challenge, said Sam Retherford in a Department of Defense news release. He's the director for the DoD officer and enlisted personnel management office.

"Getting the word out is our No. 1 challenge," he said in the news release. "Many are former members. Many have no obligation to the military anymore and are scattered across the world right now. Getting the word out for people to solicit the claim is our first challenge."

More than 420,000 veterans are living in Alabama. Thousands have deployed or been activated with the National Guard and Reserves since Sept. 11, 2001.

To apply for the retroactive payment, service members must have been honorably discharged and have documentation to prove they were affected by stop loss. Those who served under stop loss but later decided to extend their commitment or re-enlist are also eligible for the benefit.

Documents that will be used to determine eligibility include a certificate of discharge, separation orders, retirement orders, memos from previous commanders or organizations.

Retherford encourages service members to apply even if they don't have all the documentation because the service may have the documents to fill in the holes.

Stop Loss has been used by the military since 1983 in cases of national emergency, according to the department.

FIND OUT MORE

Here's where to get information from each service:

Army: www.stoplosspay.army.mil or e-mail to RetroStopLossPay@conus.army.mil

USS Alabama Commission has new chairman

Col. Bill Callender of Mobile was elected chairman of the USS Alabama Battleship Commission at their September 2010 meeting held aboard Battleship USS Alabama in Mobile.

Callender has served on the Commission since 2005. He is an US Army Aviator who flew helicopters during the Vietnam War, retiring with the rank of colonel. He is also a retired public school administrator and served on the administrative staff at the University of South Alabama. He and his wife, Kay, have three daughters and a son.

Callender has been very involved in the Military Officers Association of America and Association of the US Army. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama with additional studies at the University of South Alabama and the Army War College. He is a member of several military organizations and led the drive for a veterans cemetery located in Baldwin County. He served as chairman of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee and the Mobile Bay Veterans Day Commission, Inc. for several years. He is an ambassador for Honor Flight South Alabama.

The USS Alabama Battleship Commission is an independent agency of the State, whose 18 members are Alabama citizens appointed by the Governor. Created in 1963, the Commission oversees operations at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, which displays the Battleship USS Alabama, Submarine USS Drum, 25 aircraft, and other exhibits.

Established to honor Alabamians who served in all United States military actions, Battleship Memorial Park has hosted more than 13 million visitors since opening in 1965, and is an internationally known major tourist attraction. Since inception, the Park has been self-supporting for daily operations without using any State of Alabama, or Mobile City and County tax funds.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Oil spill with 'bama Guard

I went down to Mobile to fly over the Gulf with the Alabama National Guard back in early July. Here's some of the video I shot that day. Sorry it took so long to get it up, I'll post more throughout the week.

About Me

I grew up in the military. Mom was an Air Force nurse for a few years,
dad was a navigator on B-52s, among other things.
One grandfather served in World War II, uncle is retired Navy, other
grandfather and great-uncle served in Korea and a cousin is currently
serving in the Marine Corps. Currently, I'm the military reporter for the Great Falls Tribune in Montana. Previously,

As a military kids, we moved all over. As an adult, I've traveled all over and moved for work. But now, I'm putting down roots in Montana with my boyfriend. We just bought a house and are slowly but surely making it our home. We have more land that we know what to do with at the moment. Now we're getting a garden started, tearing down walls and having loads of fun at what we call the Homestead.

In a part life, I did PR for the guy who built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall, social media for the National Museum of Health and Medicine, before that, edited two military
technology magazines for a publishing group in the DC area and before
that, I was the military reporter (among other things) at the Montgomery
Advertiser, covering Maxwell Air Force Base, the Alabama National
Guard, veterans and anything else military related in the area. And in
between all of that, I leave town, preferably the country, whenever
possible. It all started when I spent a semester in New Zealand.